Less than two hours before star Broncos receiver Brandon Marshall took part in his first official practice since last season, his agent, Kennard McGuire, was standing outside the front doors of the team's head-quarters talking to general manager Brian Xanders.

McGuire had been at Broncos headquarters since 8 a.m. Monday when his client dutifully, if reluctantly, showed up to take his physical exam and grueling conditioning test, which Marshall passed despite offseason hip surgery.

Marshall arrived here seemingly to tell the Broncos he wants out. He said this through his slack body language. He said this by what he wouldn't say. He said this through the thinly disguised words he chose.

"I have faith in the conversations I've had with ownership and my agent and I'm going to put my faith and belief in everything that I've heard," Marshall said.

He was referring to his private meeting June 12 with Broncos owner Pat Bowlen. Marshall has said he asked for a trade then, and that Bowlen said he would try to accommodate his wishes. Bowlen has not commented on his meeting with Marshall and was not at the team's headquarters Monday.

McGuire talked briefly with Broncos coach Josh McDaniels on Monday morning, and for a good 10 minutes with Xanders outside the team's facility Monday afternoon before the latter conversation moved inside.

The Broncos are respectfully listening to Marshall and his agent, but there are no indications they will act upon his request to be traded.

Perhaps once Marshall, who is normally an engaging and friendly sort, gets around his teammates — healthy veterans don't have to report until Thursday — and personally experiences the production a receiver can generate from McDan-iels' offensive system, he will want to play for the Broncos again.

"I'm not going to comment on his state of mind," McDaniels said. "You know, he's out there, he went through every drill today. Everything we asked him to do he did, and he'll be effective at doing them when we do them full speed."

For now, Marshall wants to be included in all that has changed with his team. His Broncos reached the bottom of a historic fall last season when they lost to San Diego 52-21 in the season finale. Two days later, Mike Shanahan was fired as head coach and three months later quarterback Jay Cutler, who joined Marshall in the Pro Bowl, was traded.

Marshall became disenchanted with the Broncos for their medical treatment after he discovered the injured hip he played through while catching 104 passes last season required surgery on March 31. He also is upset with his contract. He was paid a combined $1.5 million in his first three seasons and is scheduled to make $2.198 million in this, the final year of his deal.

"What's my market value?" he said.

"Hundred-something catches two years in a row, I don't know what my market value is."

Marshall bolted from the team's offseason rehabilitation program in late May and skipped the team's mandatory minicamp in mid-June. Marshall, though, understood he could not hold out for long.

Staying away past Aug. 11 would have cost him his fourth credited season in the NFL, a move that would have put him a year further away from un-restricted free agency. Then there's the $15,888 daily fine for skipping out on training camp.

Those factors left Marshall little choice but to follow orders and show up Monday.

"I mean, it's got to stop eventually and I definitely didn't want to get that fine, so I'm here," he said.

After the walk-through practice in which Marshall joined rookies under contract, quarterbacks and veterans recovering from injury, he approached the podium in the Broncos' media room.

Though speaking softer than usual, Marshall made it loud and clear he would prefer to be standing somewhere else.

"You know, it's my obligation to be here and I'm here," Marshall said with no trace of enthusiasm.

Not all kids who play baseball are uniformed with fancy script across their chests, traveling to $1,000 instructional camps and drilled how to properly hit the cut-off man. Some kids just play to play.